IAMC Weekly News Digest, 5th February 2021
Photo: Reuters
At least nine senior Indian journalists are facing criminal charges for reporting allegations that Delhi police fatally shot a farmer in the head during protests last week, despite the authorities claiming no shots were fired. …. “Those policemen have shot him, shot on face, he is instantly killed,” says one woman, while a man adds: “First he was shot, then the tractor overturned.” A young Sikh farmer then identifies Singh: “Navreet is the name of this boy. He has been shot in the head.” …. Hardip Singh Dibdiba, Singh’s grandfather, alleged the gunshot was covered up in the postmortem, which was carried out in Rampur, in Uttar Pradesh. “At the hospital, one doctor told me that my grandson was hit by gunshot, but said they could not write that a bullet killed him,” said Dibdiba….
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Video screengrab of one of the rallies in Madhya Pradesh: The Wire
A fact-finding team looking into the incidents of communal violence reported in late December 2020 in Madhya Pradesh has said that the Hindutva groups which were holding rallies to collect money for the Ram temple in Ayodhya were allowed by the administration and the police to create “an atmosphere of terror” and to burn and loot houses of Muslims. The nine-member fact finding team included a former police officer, journalists and activists. It visited Ujjain’s Beghambagh, Dorona village in Mandsaur district and Chandankhedi village in Indore January 28 and 30 and perceived a “pattern” in all the incidents of communal violence….
Remove flagged content or be ready for jail, penalty: Government warns Twitter
Photo: PTI
The government has issued a warning to Twitter to remove the “inflammatory content” or be ready for jail and a penalty. This warning was issued after Twitter refused to comply with the government’s request to block 257 accounts that has used the hashtag #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide…. If Twitter fails to comply, under the IT Act Section 69A(3), senior officials from Twitter India could land up in jail for up to seven years along with a financial penalty that would be levied on the company. The notice was issued to Twitter by the Union government over “unilaterally unblocking” several Twitter accounts. The Caravan, Kisan Ekta Morcha and several others were earlier withheld in India after Twitter received a legal demand….
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Remove flagged content or be ready for jail, penalty: Government warns Twitter
India falls to 53rd position in EIU’s Democracy Index
